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Theatrical Tuesday - Thoughts on Riverdale, Spacey, and Hollywood's Future

TuesdayI watched the first season of Riverdale and found it just OK. There are a lot of plot twists, but most have been predictable to me. I also don't feel like I've fallen in love with any of the characters. It feels like they tried to take some of Gossip Girl's style, Pretty Little Liars, add a comic book overlay, and call it something new.

Maybe they twist the plot so quickly it feels like they don't torture me as a viewer. I just don't feel like I've been forced to experience a cliffhanger moment. They give me the answers too easily.

I think it may also be that I'm getting older. Maybe I've just outgrown teen programming. I still love Buffy though...

I grew up with Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210, Models Inc, Melrose Place, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I watched Ready or Not too, but knew it was silly compared to my actual life as a teen at the time. There was some Degrassi too.

On both The Mist and Riverdale, they used the closet gay jock trope. I've been seeing that since Buffy in the 90s. The difference is that it was new when Buffy did it. A fresh take might have a captain of the football team who's gay and a team who doesn't care about who he's shagging because it has nothing to do with athletic ability. The Mist took it in a twisted way and I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I try to think that there are countless ways to be gay and as long as it doesn't become a trope or people don't think that's how all gays are, I think I can accept it.

Yes, as we've seen with Kevin Spacey of late, some gay people are fucked up. It's important to remember that individuals do things differently than other people and that is why it can be bad to look only at an individual's group memberships and not at the whole person. Some gay people are the most wonderful people you could meet. Some white men are assholes, but not necessarily also Nazis. Some trans people take things too far and others are truly amazing humans. It makes life messier, but it's important to see beyond the surface. Ted Bundy had lots of friends who had no idea what a monster he was. If his friends were persecuted for the things he did, it would have been extremely wrong.

I think we can all agree that regardless of whether Spacey had done those things to a boy or a girl, it's disgusting and it's child molestation. He's a child molester who just happens to be gay. Those two things are not related to each other, but simply coexist in him.

I'm taking a break from Riverdale and checking out Mindhunter. I'll probably go back to Riverdale later. What I really want to see more of is Daredevil. I've always liked law-related shows. Boston Legal was one of my favourites. I often watch cold case stories with my dad when I visit him too.

I like how they position the lesbian on Mindhunter. It's not hidden, but they put a strong emphasis on also showing her as a smart and capable woman. Her sexuality is just one piece of her as it is with most gay people I know.

I'm feeling conflicted on the Spacey stuff because The Usual Suspects is one of my favourite movies. Do I stop liking something because of one sick individual and forget about all the other people involved in the film that didn't know what he was up to in his private life and who are actually good people? I don't think I do. Hundreds of people work on every film that exists. People who operate cameras, write screenplays, other actors, assistants, costume people, prop people, sound techs, and so many more. We like to refer to films as belonging to one or two lead actors, but they couldn't make those films without all the other people involved.

Also, it seems it may soon become hard to find any movies that don't have someone like him in them. The long whispered about child pedophilia ring in Hollywood seems to be falling like a house of cards. This is good news for child actors and the industry as a whole. I hope the rest are rooted out and it paves the way for a film industry that has better values at its core.

Guid cheerio the nou,
R~

PS. I'm not LGBTQ, so I may have gotten some things wrong. Please let me know if I did.
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